Jordanian physician honoured for tobacco control advocacy

AMMAN — Feras Hawari, the director of the cancer control office and chief of pulmonary and critical care at the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC), has been recognised by a leading international public health organisation for his work to reduce tobacco use in Jordan and the Middle East. 

According to a KHCC statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, the physician, who is also the director of respiratory therapy service, received the 2016 Judy Wilkenfeld Award for International Tobacco Control Excellence presented by Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

He received the award during the organisation’s annual gala dinner on May 17, said the statement, adding that the president of Uruguay was also awarded at the same gala for the Champion Award. 

Presented each year to an international tobacco control advocate who has made major contributions to reducing tobacco use, the Wilkenfeld Award was established in honour of the late Judy Wilkenfeld, a leader in the adoption of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the influential international treaty that commits countries to take strong action to reduce tobacco use. Jordan became a party to the treaty in 2004. 

In his speech at the ceremony, Hawari said that Jordanian citizens are Jordan’s most precious assets, and the tobacco epidemic in Jordan should be viewed and addressed as a threat to national economic and social security. 

He also emphasised the need to stand firm against the tobacco industry that takes Jordan as a safe springboard towards a region full of turmoil. 

“The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is proud to recognise Dr Hawari, a champion for public health and a tireless advocate whose work in Jordan has impacted countless lives and inspired advocates around the world,” said Matthew L. Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, as quoted by the KHCC statement, as saying.

Hawari’s work has made a lasting impact in Jordan and the Middle East and paved a path forward in combating the world’s leading cause of preventable death, Myers added. 

Hawari has been a catalyst for public health change throughout the Middle East. He is a founder of the first comprehensive tobacco dependence treatment programme in Jordan and helped spearhead the country’s first national report on tobacco use. 

In Jordan, nearly one-third of the adult population smokes, including 55 per cent of men and 24 per cent of students aged 13-15 use tobacco. 

In addition to his work in Jordan, Hawari, with support from the Global Bridges and WHO, has worked throughout the Middle East to cultivate advocates striving to prevent tobacco-related death and disease, the KHCC said, adding that the doctor and his colleagues have trained more than 2,000 healthcare professionals from 19 countries and created the first Arabic-language distance learning tobacco dependence treatment module.